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Everyone who’s anyone in Fringetown is going to the Opening Night Celebration at the Logan Fringe Arts Space. The free good times start at 8:30, and feature performances by Congo Sanchez, Sir Joe Quarterman, The Shifters, and Professor Bless and the Dancing Madwoman. Our music correspondent Phoebe Doan is particularly excited about this lineup; look for her take later on today.
But maybe you’re not a party person. That’s OK, because today is also the first full day of the Fringe festival itself. There are tons of options for popping your festival cherry, including our picks below. Keep in mind, no one has seen any of these plays yet. We are being purely speculative, like the gold prospectors of yore.
Above all, respect the button.
The Little Crane and the Long Journey (Japanese American Memorial, 10:00 AM)—This kid-friendly pick, an allegorical tale of Japanese-American soldiers who fought in WWII despite their abominable treatment at the hands of their own country, has the distinction of being the very first play to perform at the festival. Plus it’s outdoors in the morning, on a clear day. Read our own Amrita Khalid‘s in-depth feature on the production today.
The Last Burlesque (Atlas Performing Arts Center: Sprenger, 6:15 PM)—The always reliable Pinky Swear Productions spins a tale of a burlesque house on the verge of bankruptcy, and the wild performers struggling to hold it together. An intriguing, tarot card-laden showing at this year’s Fringe Preview event holds promise for this original work.
Tammy Faye’s Final Audition (Dance Place: Brookland Artspace Lofts Studio, 8:15)—If you’re stranded in Brookland all night (we’ve all been there), check out Brick Monkey Theatre Ensemble’s production about a former Christian TV superstar dredging up her past. Or…
I AM THE GENTRY (Dance Place: Hyman M. Pearl Studio, 8:30) … there’s Cara Gabriel‘s one-woman show about stomping around through a gentrifying D.C. neighborhood as a white woman. Washingtonians love to bandy around the g-word; here’s your chance to do it openly and unabashedly.
Photo by Paul Gillis Photography